Acknowledging My Own Privilege

When I was trying to get my career break in the technology sector many years ago, I'll admit that I saw myself as an underdog.

I am an immigrant and you can hear it as soon as I speak. I got my degree from a college that people in the US wouldn't even have heard of, much less one with alumni I could leverage. I didn't have any connections at all in the space. So I figured I was up against it. I would have to work harder than my peers to get my breaks.

That turned out to not be the case at all. What I hadn't realized was that ahead of all of the attributes I would use to identify myself, what the market saw was that I was still a straight white male.

I never encountered resistance when interviewing. I had no difficulty in getting heard in meetings. I never needed to fight for my place at the table. Nobody ever talked over me or interrupted me when I was speaking. Nobody talked to me differently because of who I was. Whenever I got heated, it was only ever seen as a strength. I had no difficulty in getting trusted with more responsibilities and getting promoted.

I had a privilege that many of my peers and close friends did not have.

Now, to be clear, I've been lucky to work at great companies who have always worked hard to build inclusive cultures and I'm thankful to them for that. But discrimination is an insidious thing. It rarely exposes itself loudly and often happens in subtle ways. And it's not up to the people team to fix it. We all have a role to play.

For me, it starts with recognizing that I have privilege. This doesn't take away from the fact that I've worked hard to achieve what I have, but I have to acknowledge that my career didn't have the many hurdles that exist for others. I have a responsibility in making sure those hurdles stop appearing, especially as my career brings growing authority and influence.

It's also crucial to recognize how discrimination manifests itself because it's often perpetuated by the language we use in the workplace. I've begun asking people on my team for ways to educate myself more and to try to see the world from their perspective.

This isn't easy to do, but it's crucial if anything is to change.

As a manager, I need to make sure that I'm sensitive to the fact that members of my team may deal with challenges that I never did, and I have to use my position to remove the blockers. I need to listen to frustration and understand that their experiences are not like mine

I need to be aware of the words that I use and make sure that I change my language when I need to. I need to call others out when I see them doing the same. Simply put, it is a part of my job to help be part of the change.

If we don't make conscious and considered efforts as accountable individuals, then nothing changes. And that is simply not acceptable.